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The formation efficiency of hydride-induced Meisenheimer complexes of nitroaromatic compounds is consistent with their anti-TB activities exemplied by MDL860 and benzothiazol N-oxide (BTO) analogs. Herein we report that nitro cyano phenoxybenzenes (MDL860 and analogs) reacted slowly and incompletely which reflected their moderate anti-TB activity, in contrast to the instantaneous reaction of BTO derivatives to quantitatively generate Meisenheimer complexes which corresponded to their enhanced anti-TB activity. These results were corroborated by mycobacterial and radiolabelling studies that confirmed inhibition of the DprE1 enzyme by BTO derivatives but not MDL860 analogs.

A set of 5,6-fused bicyclic heteroaromatic scaffolds were investigated for their in vitro anti-tubercular activity versus replicating and non-replicating strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in an attempt to find an alternative scaffold to the imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine and imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines that were previously shown to have potent activity against replicating and drug resistant Mtb. The five new bicyclic heteroaromatic scaffolds explored in this study include a 2,6-dimethylimidazo[1,2-b]pyridazine-3-carboxamide (7), a 2,6-dimethyl-1H-indole-3-carboxamide (8), a 6-methyl-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide (9), a 7-methyl-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyridine-3-carboxamide (10), and a 5,7-dimethyl-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-2-carboxamide (11). Additionally, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines isomers (2 and 12) and a homologous imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine isomer (6) were prepared and compared. Compounds 2 and 6 were found to be the most potent against H37Rv Mtb (MIC’s of 0.1 μM and 1.3 μM) and were inactive (MIC >128 μM) against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. Against other non-tubercular mycobacteria strains, compounds 2 and 6 had activity against Mycobacterium avium (16 and 122 μM, respectively), Mycobacterium kansasii (4 and 19 μM, respectively), Mycobacterium bovis BCG (1 and 8 μM, respectively) while all the other scaffolds were inactive (>128 μM).

A set of 14 imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-carboxamides was synthesized and screened against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of 12 of these agents were ≤1 μM against replicating bacteria and 5 compounds (9, 12, 16, 17, and 18) had MIC values ≤0.006 μM. Compounds 13 and 18 were screened against a panel of MDR and XDR drug resistant clinical Mtb strains with the potency of 18 surpassing that of clinical candidate PA-824 by nearly 10-fold. The in vivo pharmacokinetics of compounds 13 and 18 were evaluated in male mice by oral (PO) and intravenous (IV) routes. These results indicate that readily synthesized imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-carboxamides are an exciting new class of potent, selective anti-TB agents that merit additional development opportunities.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a devastating disease resulting in a death every 20 seconds. Thus, new drugs are urgently needed. Herein we report ten classes of compounds—oxazoline, oxazole, thiazoline, thiazole, pyrazole, pyridine, isoxazole, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine, imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine and imidazo[1,2-c]pyrimidine—which have good (micromolar) to excellent (sub-micromolar) antitubercular potency. The 5,6-fused heteroaromatic compounds were the most potent with MIC’s as low as

A set of nine 2,7-dimethylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-carboxamides and one 2,6-dimethylimidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carboxamide were synthesized. The compounds were evaluated for their in vitro anti-tuberculosis activity versus replicating, non-replicating, multi- and extensive drug resistant Mtb strains. The MIC(90) values of seven of these agents were ≤ 1 μM against the various tuberculosis strains tested. A representative compound of this class (1) was screened against seven non-tubercular strains as well as other non-mycobacteria organisms and demonstrated remarkable microbe selectivity. A transcriptional profiling experiment of Mtb treated with compound 1 was performed to give a preliminary indication of the mode of action. Lastly, the in vivo ADME properties of compounds 1, 3, 4, and 6 were assessed. The 2,7-dimethylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-carboxamides are a drug-like and synthetically accessible class of anti-TB agents that have excellent selective potency against multi- and extensive drug resistant TB and encouraging pharmacokinetics.

Phenoxybenzenes and phenoxypyridines were prepared and tested for the effect of substituents on antipicornavirus activity. The most active compound, 2-(3,4-dichlorophenoxy)-5-nitrobenzonitrile (8), demonstrated broad-spectrum antipicornavirus activity. Compound 8 and several analogues each given orally prior to and during infection protected mice against an otherwise lethal challenge with coxsackievirus A21.

Background Octopamine receptors (OARs) perform key functions in the biological pathways of primarily invertebrates, making this class of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) a potentially good target for insecticides. However, the lack of structural and experimental data for this insect-essential GPCR family has promoted the development of homology models that are good representations of their biological equivalents for in silico screening of small molecules. Methods Two Anopheles gambiae OARs were cloned, analysed and functionally characterized using a heterologous cell reporter system. Four antagonist- and four agonist-binding homology models were generated and virtually screened by docking against compounds obtained from the ZINC database. Resulting compounds from the virtual screen were tested experimentally using an in vitro reporter assay and in a mosquito larvicide bioassay. Results Six An. gambiae OAR/tyramine receptor genes were identified. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the OAR (AGAP000045) that encodes two open reading frames is an α-adrenergic-like receptor. Both splice variants signal through cAMP and calcium. Mutagenesis analysis revealed that D100 in the TM3 region and S206 and S210 in the TM5 region are important to the activation of the GPCR. Some 2,150 compounds from the virtual screen were structurally analysed and 70 compounds were experimentally tested against AgOAR45B expressed in the GloResponse™CRE-luc2P HEK293 reporter cell line, revealing 21 antagonists, 17 weak antagonists, 2 agonists, and 5 weak agonists. Conclusion Reported here is the functional characterization of two An. gambiae OARs and the discovery of new OAR agonists and antagonists based on virtual screening and molecular dynamics simulations. Four compounds were identified that had activity in a mosquito larva bioassay, three of which are imidazole derivatives. This combined computational and experimental approach is appropriate for the discovery of new and effective insecticides. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1475-2875-13-434) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.